Biotech Updates

Improved Potato Varieties Ensure Food Security in Peruvian Communities

June 22, 2012

Two improved varieties of potatoes were able to increase the crop's yield eight times higher than any of the 150 native potato varieties grown in the Cusco region in Peru three years after their formal release. This was reported by Stef de Haan, International Potato Center's (CIP) breeder.

The two varieties, named Pallay Poncho and Puka Lliclla, are both resilient to late blight disease, a fungus that is posing an increasing threat to potato production in the Andes. The two varieties give yields of about 15-16 tons per hectare, compared to 5 tons per hectare from traditional native potatoes.

View the original article at http://www.cgiar.org/consortium-news/improved-potato-varieties-ensure-peruvian-communities-have-enough-to-eat/.